Oregonians drank 669 alcoholic drinks on average in 2021, new study says

Author: KGW Staff

OREGON, USA (KGW) — According to a study from DrugAbuse.com, in 2021, Oregonians averaged 669 alcoholic drinks for the entire year. To put this in perspective, this means each Oregonian had 1.83 alcoholic drinks a day.

Possibly more importantly, that’s 12.9 drinks a week. Which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is well over the seven drinks per week for women and just slightly under the 14 drinks per week for men threshold for “heavy drinking.”

It’s also important to note, the survey only included “drinkers” and was not exceptionally large. Nationwide, DrugAbuse.com surveyed 6,370 drinkers in 2020 and 3,584 in 2021.

According to the study, New Mexicans were the biggest drinkers in 2021, averaging 787 drinks per year and South Dakotans were the lowest, averaging 520 drinks per year.

Interestingly, data from the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission shows that Oregonians are spending more year over year on alcohol. Though that can possibly be attributed to “moving up the shelf” or buying more expensive bottles.

But Oregonians are still suffering from the impacts of heavy drinking.

“Pre-COVID, there were six alcohol-related deaths each day in Oregon,” said Mike Marshall, director of Oregon Recovers, in December.

Marshall noted that officials reporting alcohol-related deaths up more than 70% from 2019 to 2020, an alarming trend. Anyone who needs help with addiction, he said, should visit oregonrecoverynetwork.org.